Minnesota State Community and Technical College - Fergus Falls won the Region XIII Men's Golf National Qualifier on Tuesday in Prairie Du Chien, Wisconsin. This title qualifies the Spartans for the NJCAA Division III National Championship, their 11th consecutive year qualifying for the championship tournament, which is the longest current streak in division III golf. With a two-day total of 636 (317 on day 1 and 319 on day two), the Spartans won the tournament with a 14-stroke lead over runner-up Southwest Tech (Fennimore, WI) who had a two-day total of 650 (323 - day one, 327 - day two).
The Spartans' Joel Quam (below, left) finished the tournament with the top score after two days, shooting a combined 152 (77-75) to be named the medalist.
Teammate Hunter Burnside (above, right) carded the low round of the tournament with a 72 on day 1. He finished one shot behind Quam with a 153 (72-81).
With six holes to play on Tuesday, M State and Southwest Tech were nearly even in scoring, but M State finished strong to win the tournament. Spartans' coach jason Retzlaff said of the tournament, "I am so happy for this group and they truly earned a national tournament trip by saving their best golf of the fall for this moment. It was another close battle with a very good SW Tech team as Coach Scott Kennedy runs an outstanding golf program. With 6 holes to go it was very close as our lead after day 1 disappeared quickly as we really struggled out of the gates on Tuesday. We found our footing and played extremely well coming down the stretch. I was extremely impressed by our team's ability to perform so well under pressure late in the round."
"Joel Quam played tremendous golf for two days straight and a big congrats to him for earning medalist honors. He was so consistent for two days and was our rock on the second day. Hunter Burnside was also big for us with a nearly flawless even par round on day 1. Sam Western also gave our team a lot of momentum putting up his best round of the Fall on the final day. This has been a wonderful group of young men 1-6 to work with this fall and it's very gratifying to know they will have an opportunity to compete at the national level" stated Ratzlaff.
On the women's side of the tournament, Audra Ewans (below) earned an individual qualification to nationals for the Spartans with a two day total of 188 (95-93). Ewan became the first Spartan woman to qualify for the NJCAA Division III Women's Golf National Championship in 10 years.
Ratzlaff said of Ewans, "We are so happy for Audra being our first women's player to qualify for nationals in a decade. She played very steady both days and drove the ball extremely well. She is a very talented and dedicated player who has done a wonderful job representing Spartan women's golf. We are so thankful for her efforts this fall and can't wait for her to compete in New York next June."
The Spartan men's team and Ewan representing the Spartan women will compete in the NJCAA Division III National Golf Championship on June 7-10 at Chatauqua Golf Course in Chatauqua, NY. The Spartan men won the national championship in 2012 and have finished in the top 5 every season since, claiming 3rd place in three of the last four years.
This concludes the Spartans fall golf schedule. See below for full tournament results:
M State Men Individual Results:
Joel Quam (77-Day 1-75-Day 2)= 152
Hunter Burnside (72-81)= 153
Grant Inniger (82-81)= 163
Sam Western (88-82)= 170
Mikey Vall (86-85)=171
Southwest Tech Men Individual Results:
Andrew Martinez (77-79)= 156
Tucker Needham (82-80)= 162
Dakota Rezacheck (81-83)= 164
Ryan Spry (83-85)= 168
Mitch Ruhnke (90-88)= 178
M State Women Individual:
Audra Ewan (95-93)= 188 **Qualifies individually for nationals
Photos compliments of Jeff Haukos.
This release sponsored by:
|
About the Minnesota College Athletic Conference
The Minnesota College Athletic Conference is the organizational body for NJCAA-affiliated two-year technical and community college athletic programs in the Minnesota State system. The mission of the Minnesota College Athletic Conference is to advance intercollegiate athletics by providing an engaging and supportive environment for success of our student athletes and competition among member institutions. The MCAC is committed to the guiding principles of encouraging the development and success of student athletes, promoting the integrity, honesty and loyalty to member schools as well as upholding the sustainability of conference athletic programs.